BOOK REVIEW: Achieving Impact in Research, edited by Pam Denicolo

Achieving Impact in Research aims
to address the importance of understanding and achieving impact for the
purposes of gaining research funding and reporting achieved impact for
the Research Excellence Framework (REF).

The book includes contributions
from researchers and researcher developers who feel that impact is
ill-defined and poorly understood despite its prevalence in policy
documents, websites and institutional activities.

Catherine Easton finds that this a light and accessible manual, though some information is too general.

I strongly suspect that
no-one in UK academia has managed to shield themselves from the “Impact
Agenda”. Not only is the concept controversial but it has also proved
difficult to pin down and even more difficult to embed into individual
and departmental research strategies.

Having been party to many a “but
is it actually impact … or at least the impact they want?” conversations, I
was intrigued to see whether a book entitled Achieving Impact in Research could
fulfil what I saw to be quite a bold remit.

This text is a collection of
chapters from a number of contributors, many of whom were involved with
Vitae’s Impact and Evaluation Group and the UK Council for Graduate
Education.

This, in general, is a positive aspect of the work as it
brings numerous perspectives to a multi-faceted area but at times gives
an impression of sitting in on a meeting of impact agenda “insiders”.

From the outset, the book recognises that the topic is “ill-defined and
poorly understood” and attempts to address the conflicting positions
taken while also giving practical insights and advice.

The book is written in an engaging style, liberally employing
pedagogical features such as key points, text boxes, diagrams and
reflection points.

While it is not formally divided, the first half of
the book focuses upon the nature of impact in research while the second
takes a more “how to guide” approach, dealing mainly with practical
advice.

In an early chapter the question of whether or not the agenda is
something new is addressed, with a conclusion that it was drawn from
themes already emerging from the within the UK research system but has
been developed as a concrete term to bring stability to the concept.

It
is at this point, it is accepted, that this stability fuelled and
inevitably led to the need for measurement with the related “consulting,
diagramming and reporting” which, it can be argued, generated negative
responses to the agenda.

Jennifer Chubb tackles the issue of how the impact agenda can be
reconciled with the attitudes and ethics that motivate research.

This
question is unanswerable due to the many differing motivations
individual researchers have for doing work and the text appears to
recognise this by acting as a guide for self-reflective analysis in the
light of the need for impact.

The chapter in part draws upon the
preliminary findings from a number of qualitative interviews undertaken
with academics on their motivations and understanding of impact and
attempts to reconcile these with the formal agenda.

A conclusion is
drawn that “the language used within the context of the Impact Agenda
often confuses and complicates the issue”.

This is addressed later in
the book with an “Impact Agenda Glossary” which aims to help an
interested party navigate his or her way around the topic, perhaps also
highlighting the peripheral bureaucracy surrounding its implementation.

While the chapter presents some useful guidance, it feels at times
superficial and more could have been made of the empirical research.
However, it is accepted that the book as a whole appears to be more of a
manual rather than an in-depth academic analysis of the area.

Strategies for embedding impact into research proposals are addressed
by Rob Daley and Sarah Shinton. This covers applications not only to UK
Research Councils but also to some of other large funding providers.

As
in other chapters, the approach taken is one that attempts to guide the
reader towards self-reflection to “facilitate the connection between
researcher and potential user”.

Useful insights are given into
approaches assessors take to evaluate impact alongside planning
strategies, checklists and a case study.

While the importance of
institutional support is acknowledged, the chapter acts as a useful
resource for the emerging researcher grappling for the first time with a
“Pathways to Impact” statement.

Tony Bromley in Chapter Eight outlines practical methods to evidence
impact and, as the “how can I prove impact?” question often arises,
covers a topic essential to the wider understanding of the overarching
agenda.

The difficulty of giving advice that is relevant across academic
disciplines is accepted early in the chapter and this has led to a
general approach being taken. This does not detract from the value of
the chapter as the exercises, diagrams, quick tips boxes and questions
all provide useful guidance on research evaluation alongside insights
into what actually counts as evidence of impact.

With the impact agenda currently having such a prominent influence on
research planning and development it was only a short amount of time
before impact-focused publications appeared.

Achieving Impact in Research attempts
both to define the impact agenda and its rationale and to provide
general, targeted advice on how to engage with it. It is in this second
aim that the book succeeds best.

Much of the practical guidance is
general enough in its approach to be relevant across disciplines but
focused enough upon self-reflection and planning to be of tangible use.

As such, I would recommend this book to those teaching research skills
at an institutional and departmental level and also to early career
researchers trying to understand impact and address it in research
planning and implementation.

Catherine Easton is a lecturer in Lancaster
University’s School of Law. In 2010 she completed her PhD on access to
the Internet, citizenship and disabled people.

Her research interests
include Internet governance, domain name regulation, intellectual
property, access to technology and human/computer interaction.

In 2012
Catherine was awarded an HEA international scholarship to carry out
research on educational technology in the USA. Read more reviews by Catherine.

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